Iran-Israel-U.S. June 2025-

History of US-Iran relations: From the 1953 regime change to Trump strikes
Iran remains the US’s adversary in the Middle East since the 1979 Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. – Al Jazeera 23 June 2025
Iran’s Conflict With Israel and the United States
By the Center for Preventive Action

30 July
US hits Iranian shipping network with major new sanctions
US says latest Iran sanctions are toughest since 2018
Moves are meant to make Iran oil sales more difficult
Targeted network is run by son of adviser to Iran Supreme Leader
(Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on Wednesday on over 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels, in a sign the Trump administration is doubling down on its “maximum pressure” campaign after bombing Tehran’s key nuclear sites in June.
The sanctions broadly target the shipping interests of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who is himself an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The U.S. Treasury said it was the most significant Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first administration.

15-16 July
Iran ready to respond to any new attack, supreme leader says
(Reuters) – Iran is ready to respond to any renewed military attack, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran was capable of delivering a bigger blow to adversaries than the one it gave during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
“The fact that our nation is ready to face the power of the United States and its dog on a leash, the Zionist regime (Israel), is very praiseworthy,” Khamenei said in comments carried by state TV.
Iran is under pressure to resume nuclear talks with the U.S. as Washington and three major European countries have agreed to set the end of August as the deadline for a deal.
If no progress is reached by then, France’s foreign minister warned international sanctions would be reapplied via the United Nations snapback mechanism.
France threatens Iran with UN sanctions by end of August
European countries set to trigger UN snapback mechanism if there are no nuclear talks
France, the UK and Germany will launch the UN snapback mechanism on Iran to restore sanctions by the end of August if no concrete progress has been made on a nuclear deal by then, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
“It’s a fact: Iran violated the obligations it took 10 years ago during negotiations on the Iranian nuclear [programme],” Mr Barrot said before a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“So France and its partners are justified in reapplying global embargoes on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest,” Mr Barrot added.

15 July
Israel and Iran Usher In New Era of Psychological Warfare
The 12-day conflict was marked by a flurry of propaganda, disinformation and covert operations aided by artificial intelligence and spread by social media.
(NYT) … Over 12 days of attacks, Israel and Iran turned social media into a digital battlefield, using deception and falsehoods to try to sway the outcome even as they traded kinetic missile strikes that killed hundreds and roiled an already turbulent Middle East. The posts, researchers said, represented a greater intensity of information warfare, by beginning before the strikes, employing artificial intelligence and spreading widely so quickly.
Information warfare, often called psychological operations, or psyops, is as old as war itself. But experts say the effort between Israel and Iran was more intense and more targeted than anything that had come before, and seen by millions of people scrolling on their phones for updates even as bombs fell.
The reason is that today’s technology — the ubiquity of social media and the advent of generative A.I. — has transformed the ability of countries to respond to events and to speak directly to citizens and others in real time in ways that are more believable than ever before.
Iran, for example, sent alerts in Hebrew to thousands of Israeli mobile phones warning recipients to avoid bomb shelters because militants planned to infiltrate them and attack those inside, according to researchers and official statements. A network of accounts on X attributed to Israel spread messages in Persian trying to erode confidence in Iran’s government, including ones narrated by an A.I.-generated woman.

8 July
The Deadly Tango of Netanyahu and Khamenei
By Dr. Saeed Rahnema
It’s no exaggeration to say that the most extreme and reactionary government in Israel’s history is in part a byproduct of Iran’s ruling Islamic fundamentalist policies.
Following the recent 12-day war, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran would never surrender to Israel and the United States
(Open Canada) Exactly ten years ago, in an article titled “The Political Tango of Netanyahu and Khamenei” published in Open Canada, I noted that although there may seem to be no two political leaders who hate each other more than these two, at the same time, they are deeply reliant on one another to cover up the chaos they’ve each created within their own countries. Now, ten years later, this dance continues, still with the same theme, but now with a much more dangerous and deadly rhythm, and for Khamenei at least, it has reached a decisive turning point.
Without delving into the historical details of this conflict, it is very clear that Israel was deeply angered by the 1979 revolution and the fall of the Pahlavi regime, its most important regional ally. The Islamic Republic, pursuing its reactionary policies and ideological-religious expansion, soon designated Israel as one of its main enemies and officially called for its destruction. This stance, which had little to do with supporting the Palestinian movement, was the greatest gift to the Zionist right-wing and Jewish fundamentalists. During Ahmadinejad’s presidency, Israelis even publicly claimed he was “God-sent.”
It’s no exaggeration to say that the most extreme and reactionary government in Israel’s history, currently in power, is in part a byproduct of Iran’s ruling Islamic fundamentalist policies. The Islamic regime’s creation of proxy forces like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq, and its influence over groups like Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen, all served to expand this reactionary agenda. As these activities intensified, so too did the strength of Israel’s right wing. Netanyahu, like his dance partner in Iran, has been the longest-serving leader, holding the position of Prime Minister across three separate terms, totalling about 21 years. He has skillfully exploited the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy to strengthen Zionist right-wing politics, weaken progressive Israeli forces, and simultaneously deliver harsh blows to progressive Palestinian movements.
Besides strengthening proxy groups across the region, the Islamic Republic aggressively advanced its controversial nuclear and missile programs, giving Netanyahu and his extremist faction the perfect excuse to portray Iran as an “existential threat” to Israel and rally international Zionist forces and pro-Israel lobbies, especially in the US, against Iran.
As for Zionist policy, from the start it has revolved around two core objectives: territorial expansion and population replacement by displacing Palestinians, bringing in Jewish immigrants from elsewhere and expanding settlement construction in the West Bank. To justify these aims, right-wing extremist Zionists have continually needed to beat the drum of existential threat. After overcoming the Palestinian movement and several wars with the neighbouring Arab states, and with no real danger remaining from those fronts, they required a seemingly powerful new enemy to maintain momentum through fear. The establishment of the Islamic Republic created that perfect enemy. …

4 July
Chaos or Opportunity: Re-thinking Fault Lines in Iran-Israel Relations with Alireza Yazdi (podcast)
(Open Canada) In this episode, Ruth Mojeed Ramirez sits down with Alireza Yazdi, director on the board of the Canadian International Council, a Canadian with both Persian and Jewish roots, to explore the deeply personal and political complexities of the Israel-Iran relationship. Against the backdrop of escalating conflict and shifting power dynamics in the Middle East, they discuss identity, belonging, and what it means to witness two ancestral homelands in tension. Is there space for dialogue and diplomacy, or are we entering a new era of entrenched division?

1 July
Iran made preparations to mine the Strait of Hormuz, US sources say
Mines loaded last month, raising fears of blockade
Mining would have severely harmed global commerce
U.S. has not ruled out possibility that loading the mines was a ruse
(Reuters) – The Iranian military loaded naval mines onto vessels in the Persian Gulf last month, a move that intensified concerns in Washington that Tehran was gearing up to blockade the Strait of Hormuz following Israel’s strikes on sites across Iran, according to two U.S. officials.
The previously unreported preparations, which were detected by U.S. intelligence, occurred some time after Israel launched its initial missile attack against Iran on June 13, said the officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

29 June
Simon Tisdall: Don’t count on the Iran-Israel ceasefire lasting. What Netanyahu really wants is a forever war
Like Putin, Israel’s prime minister sees continuing destruction as an opportunity to boost support and outflank his enemies
(The Guardian) The verbally agreed Iran-Israel ceasefire could be ripped to shreds at any moment. An aggressive theocratic regime still holds power in Tehran. The same is true of Jerusalem. In Washington, a president whose stupidity is matched only by his vanity prattles about making peace, but the angry old men in charge have learned nothing. Meanwhile, hundreds of civilians lie dead, thousands are wounded and millions have been terrorised.
The war is over! Except only the naive believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister and prime warmonger, is done fighting. Even if Donald Trump is right and Iran’s nuclear facilities have been “obliterated” (“severely damaged” appears more accurate), its nuclear knowhow and elusive stockpile of enriched uranium have not. At the first sign, real or imagined, of rebuilding, Netanyahu and his cronies will surely attack again. Trump called them off last week. But this is a man who can change his mind three times before he’s even had breakfast. …

25 June
Ian Bremmer: Trump got his foreign policy win. Now comes the hard part
… Long term? It’s likely to push Iran to go all-in on covertly acquiring a nuclear deterrent to ensure regime survival. That would take time – they need to rebuild underground facilities, reconstitute their centrifuges, enrich in secret. But it would happen out of the IAEA’s sight and beyond easy reach. We’d likely only find out when we were presented with a fait accompli: a working bomb.
Netanyahu has already warned that Israel will strike again if it detects any Iranian attempts to rebuild its program. Even if Tehran doesn’t dash for a bomb, Israel intends to continue “mowing the grass” in Iran whenever threats and opportunities arise, as it has in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. “We have concluded a significant chapter, but the campaign against Iran is not over,” the IDF chief said yesterday.
Trump won’t love his ceasefire getting broken. But the real question is, what’s he going to do to stop it? And the answer is probably not much. He’s willing to lean on Israel for now to declare mission accomplished and claim the W. But he won’t stick his neck out to rein in Bibi forever. And if the fighting resumes, Trump will back Israel regardless of whether it’s Israel who starts it.
The 12-Day War is over, but the story will be continued.
What America Can Learn From Iran’s Failure
The regime’s predicament shows what happens when conspiracies, rather than reality, shape decision making.
By Yair Rosenberg
(The Atlantic) In just 12 days, Israel eliminated the leadership of Iran’s military, air force, and intelligence agency; bombed the country’s nuclear sites; and took out dozens of missiles and launchers on the ground before they could be used. Iran, by contrast, was unable to take down a single Israeli jet, and was reduced to firing decreasing volleys of ballistic missiles at Israel’s population centers, killing 27 civilians and one 18-year-old soldier at home with his family. All active-duty military deaths were on the Iranian side.
Israel’s achievements were made possible by their stunning intelligence penetration of the Iranian regime’s highest ranks. In the first hours of the conflict, Mossad agents reportedly launched drones from inside Iranian territory to neutralize air defenses, and lured much of Iran’s top brass to a supposedly secret bunker that was then pummeled by Israeli forces. These early coups enabled Israel to achieve air dominance over Iran, a country some 1,500 miles away. To understand how the regime’s leaders could have failed so utterly to suss out Israeli spooks, one needs to understand another time when Israel was alleged to have taken control of Tehran’s skies. …

A whirlwind 48 hours: How Trump’s Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together
(AP) — In a 48-hour whirlwind, President Donald Trump veered from elated to indignant to triumphant as his fragile Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together, teetered toward collapse and ultimately coalesced.
Trump, as he worked to seal the deal, publicly harangued the Israelis and Iranians with a level of pique that’s notable even for a commander in chief who isn’t shy about letting the world know what he thinks.
The effort was helped along as his aides and Qatari allies sensed an opening after what they saw as a half-hearted, face-saving measure by Tehran on Monday to retaliate against the U.S. for strikes against three key nuclear sites. And it didn’t hurt that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after 12 days of bombing, could tell the Israeli public that Iran’s nuclear program had been diminished.
“This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!” Trump declared in a social media post announcing the ceasefire.

21-24 June
The Middle East War Enters a New Phase
Richard Haass
It takes only one side to start a war, but it takes all parties involved to end one. In this latest crisis in the Middle East, initiative has passed from Israel to the US and now to Iran, which now must decide if the US attack is the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.
(Project Syndicate) For both Israel and the US, this was a war of choice: other options were available. Moreover, the attacks were preventive, rather than preemptive, in the sense that an Iranian nuclear breakout was a gathering threat, not an imminent one. It is less clear why the US acted when it did, other than that diplomacy looked unpromising and there was an opportunity to undertake the mission with minimum risk to US forces. That said, both Israel and the US had run out of patience with Iran, which was enriching uranium to levels that made sense only if its goal was to develop nuclear weapons rather than generate electricity.

Ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to hold as Trump vents frustration with both sides (23:00)
(AP) — A fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold Tuesday after initially faltering, and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with both sides, saying they had fought “for so long and so hard” that they do not know what they are doing.
But even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel had brought Iran’s nuclear program “to ruin,” a new U.S. intelligence report found that the program has been set back only a few months after U.S. strikes over the weekend, according to two people familiar with the assessment.
Strike Set Back Iran’s Nuclear Program by Only a Few Months, U.S. Report Says (19:30)
Preliminary classified findings indicate that the attack sealed off the entrances to two facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings.
(NYT) A preliminary classified U.S. report says the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months, according to officials familiar with the findings.
The strikes sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, the officials said the early findings concluded.
Before the attack, U.S. intelligence agencies had said that if Iran tried to rush to making a bomb, it would take about three months. After the U.S. bombing run and days of attacks by the Israeli Air Force, the report by the Defense Intelligence Agency estimated that the program had been delayed, but by less than six months.
The report also said that much of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was moved before the strikes, which destroyed little of the nuclear material. Iran may have moved some of that to secret locations.
Trump is trying to script the perfect ending to war in Iran. Will the rest of the world go along?
(AP) — President Donald Trump wanted the brief and explosive American intervention in the Middle East to end with the satisfying tidiness of a prime-time season finale.
After days of stoking suspense over whether he would help Israel’s attacks on Iran, followed by a spectacular bombing mission against nuclear facilities, he announced a surprise ceasefire deal to bring the war to a close.
Trump even gave the conflict a definitive name — “THE 12 DAY WAR” — leaving no doubt that he viewed the storyline as complete
Now the question is whether the rest of the world will follow the script that Trump has laid out
Israel-Iran ceasefire off to rocky start, drawing Trump’s ire after fanfare
Trump slams Netanyahu for truce violation, says it is still in effect and that he is not seeking regime change in Iran.
(Al Jazeera) The ceasefire between Israel and Iran is already showing signs of strain – and has triggered frustration, and a televised expletive, from United States President Donald Trump, who accused Israel of undermining the deal just hours after its announcement.
The ceasefire, brokered by the US and Qatar, came into effect late Monday following days of intensive missile barrages between the two foes. Israel’s last wave of strikes targeted Iranian military infrastructure near Isfahan, prompting retaliatory drone launches by Tehran.

Heather Cox Richardson June 23, 2025
In a timeline of Trump’s decision to drop 12 of the reportedly 20 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs the U.S. military possessed on Iran, New York Times reporters confirmed what Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo judged from the beginning: Trump wanted in on the optics of what seemed to be Israel’s successful strikes against Iran.
Andrew Perez and Asawin Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone reported conversations with administration officials who confirmed there was no new intelligence to suggest Iran was on the brink of producing nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu decided on Iran war last year, then sought to recruit Trump
The Israeli prime minister had set in motion plans to attack Iran long before President Trump began efforts to resolve nuclear concerns through negotiations, officials say.
(WaPo) … Whether or not Netanyahu had enough evidence of Iranian progress toward a nuclear weapon to justify an attack has been the subject of intense debate globally and raises questions about the strikes’ permissibility under international law. In recent days, the issue has appeared to generate friction inside the U.S. administration, with Trump repeatedly dismissing the assessment delivered in March by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that Iran’s leadership has not ordered the development of a nuclear weapon and telling reporters that he personally believed that Iran was “very close” to a bomb.
Live Updates: Trump Says Cease-Fire Is Imminent but Iran Says No Deal ‘As of Now’ (9:35 pm ET)
(NYT) The president’s assertion on social media came hours after an Iranian missile attack on the largest American military installation in the Middle East, and days after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Qatar intervened and persuaded Iran to accept a cease-fire deal, diplomats say.
Qatar intervened on behalf of the Trump administration and persuaded Iran to agree to a cease-fire with Israel, according to three diplomats briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
… Qatari officials have been key interlocutors in the indirect Gaza cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas, and Qatar has long worked to present itself as capable of narrowing the gaps between warring parties.
Trump says Israel and Iran have negotiated ‘complete’ ceasefire
(The Guardian) Donald Trump has claimed that Israel and Iran have negotiated a ceasefire, halting a two-week-old war that has killed hundreds in tit-for-tat strikes by Israeli warplanes and Iranian ballistic missiles.
The ceasefire was set to begin late on Monday, Trump said, with Iran halting its attacks first and then Israel set to cease offensive operations in the coming hours.
Trump said he hoped that the ceasefire would lead to an end of what he called the “12 Day War”. Shortly before the announcement, powerful explosions were reported in the Iranian capital of Tehran, according to Agence France-Presse.
Iran says it attacked U.S. military base in Qatar in retaliation for strikes on its nuclear facilities
(WaPo) Explosions were reported in the sky over the Qatari capital, Doha, which is about 25 miles from Al-Udeid Air Base, the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command and home to about 10,000 troops.
Iran said it launched strikes against U.S. base in Qatar
Qatar closes airspace, Foreign Ministry says
Putin meets with Iran’s foreign minister, calls for solution to ‘get out’ of war
What the US and Israel really want from Iran
The joint attacks against Iran aim to sow chaos and instability in order to secure regional domination
Muhannad Ayyash, Professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University, Calgary
(Al Jazeera) Here we have a situation where two nuclear powers – one which stands out as the only state in history to use, not once but twice, a nuclear weapon and another that refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has a mass-murder-suicide type of nuclear doctrine – are undertaking illegal “pre-emptive” aggression under the guise of stopping nuclear proliferation.
Clearly, the US and Israel are not after Iran’s nuclear programme. They are after Iran as a regional power, and that is why regime change has already been floated in public.
U.N. chief warns of ‘perilous turn’ after U.S. strikes
The U.N. Security Council began an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon, called by Iran to address the U.S. strikes on its nuclear program. In an opening statement, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks “a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling.”
Trump asks why there would not be ‘regime change’ in Iran
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday questioned the possibility of regime change in Iran following U.S. military strikes against key Iran military sites over the weekend.
“It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Muslim countries to set up contact group to seek Israel-Iran de-escalation
(Reuters) – The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said on Sunday it would set up a ministerial contact group to establish regular contact with international and regional parties to support de-escalation efforts after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
In a joint declaration following a meeting of the 57-member group’s foreign ministers in Istanbul, the OIC condemned “the aggression of Israel” against Iran, stressing “the urgent need to stop Israeli attacks and their great concern regarding this dangerous escalation”.
Guardian Updates
Iran’s parliament has voted to shut down the vital Hormuz shipping channel in retaliation against Donald Trump’s attack on the country, prompting fears of a sharp spike in oil prices that could cause a global recession.
A barrel of Brent crude was selling for about $77 on Friday, having risen by more than 10% since mid-June when Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear sites prompted missile strikes from Tehran against Tel Aviv.
But Trump’s decision to follow Israel by launching a US attack on Iran has set off a chain of events that analysts warned could drive prices up much further when markets open at 11pm UK time on Sunday.
A fifth of the world’s oil consumption flows through the strait of Hormuz, which is a gateway out of the Persian Gulf.
US attacks Iran: How Trump rejoined ‘team’ Netanyahu
Just four years ago, Trump used a swear word for Netanyahu. On Sunday, he said they worked as a team. We track that shift.
(Al Jazeera) As United States President Donald Trump addressed the world on the strikes launched by his country’s military against three key Iranian nuclear sites in the early hours on Sunday, he thanked several people and institutions.
The US military, fighter pilots who dropped the bombs, and a general were among those on his list. So was one individual who is not American, and with whom Trump has had a topsy-turvy relationship: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump also said Netanyahu and he had worked like “perhaps no team has ever worked before”. Those laudatory comments represent a stark contrast from the far more crude language that Trump used for the Israeli leader just four years ago, and their public tension over Iran less than a month ago. …
What did Netanyahu say about Trump?
After Trump announced the strikes and appreciated the Israeli leader, Netanyahu responded with warmer words than the ones the US president had used for him.
“President Trump, your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,” Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement.
He further said, “In tonight’s action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on Earth could do.”
“History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons,” said Netanyahu.
The US strikes follow nine days of Israeli missile attacks against Iran, including on its nuclear facilities. Israel did not have the bombs needed to damage or destroy Iran’s most secretive nuclear site in Fordow, buried deep inside a mountain. The US, using its bunker-buster bombs, hit Fordow as well as the facilities in Natanz and Isfahan on Sunday.

US inserts itself into Israel’s war with Iran, striking 3 Iranian nuclear sites
(AP) — The United States struck three sites in Iran early Sunday, inserting itself into Israel’s war aimed at destroying the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe despite fears of a wider regional conflict.
Addressing the nation from the White House, President Donald Trump asserted that Iran’s key nuclear were “completely and fully obliterated.” There was no independent damage assessment.
It was not clear whether the U.S. would continue attacking Iran alongside its ally Israel, which has been engaged in a nine-day war with Iran. Trump acted without congressional authorization, and he warned that there would be additional strikes if Tehran retaliated against U.S. forces.

20 June
Under attack from Israel, Iran’s supreme leader faces a stark choice
(AP) — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who crushed internal threats repeatedly during more than three decades in power, now faces his greatest challenge yet.
His archenemy, Israel, has secured free rein over Iran’s skies and is decimating the country’s military leadership and nuclear program with its punishing air campaign. It is also threatening his life: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei “cannot continue to exist.”
The 86-year-old leader faces a choice. He could escalate Iran’s retaliation against Israel and risk even heavier damage from Israeli bombardment. Or he could seek a diplomatic solution that keeps the U.S. out of the conflict, and risk having to give up the nuclear program he has put at the center of Iranian policy for years.
In a video address Wednesday he sounded defiant, vowing “the Iranian nation is not one to surrender” and warning that if the U.S. steps in, it will bring “irreparable damage to them.”

19 June
I hate Khamenei’s regime. But I love Iran even more.
The hope that the conflict between Israel and Iran will lead to regime change is fantasy.
Trump Says He’ll Decide on Iran Attack ‘Within the Next Two Weeks’
European officials, who have been effectively sidelined in the war between Israel and Iran, will try to exert limited leverage in a meeting with Iranian officials on Friday in Geneva.
(NYT) President Trump said on Thursday that he would decide whether the United States will attack Iran “within the next two weeks,” pivoting from recent comments that suggested an American strike might be imminent and raising the possibility of revived negotiations on the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
In a statement released by the White House announcing Mr. Trump’s new timeline, he said that “there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.”
The Three Dramatic Consequences of Israel’s Attack on Iran
Great battles, won or lost, change the entire course of events.
By Eliot A. Cohen
(The Atlantic) … Iran’s war with Israel is rooted in the Islamic Republic’s inveterate hostility to the Jewish state. It has consisted of multiple campaigns, including terror attacks against Jewish communities abroad (Argentina in 1994, for example) and missile salvos aimed at Israel (including from Lebanon and Iran itself last year). But three great events—the smashing of Hezbollah, the Syrian revolution that overthrew the Iranian-aligned regime, and now a climactic battle waged by long-range strikes and Mossad hit teams in Tehran—are changing the Middle East. …
…the emergence of a distinct mode of warfare, already apparent in some of Ukraine’s operations in Russia, that combines special operations with precision long-range strikes. Special operations are nothing new—the British secret services of the time played a role in a nearly successful bomb plot against Napoleon. But the innovation is combining large-scale and systematic use of assassinations and sabotage with nearly simultaneously precision strikes. Similar techniques helped decapitate Hezbollah’s leadership and devastate its middle ranks while smashing its arsenals, but Israel’s campaign against Iran is on an altogether different scale.

17-18 June
Trump says Iran deal ‘could still happen’ and claims Tehran was ‘a few weeks away’ from nuclear weapon –Iran goes into near-total internet blackout
Iran’s leader rejects call to surrender, warns against U.S. involvement
Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” European diplomats prepared to hold talks with Iran on Friday.
The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.
Trump urges Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender,’ says patience ‘wearing thin’

12-15 June
Israel’s Big Gamble to Knock Out Iran
Much now depends on how far the two central players are willing to go.
(Bloomberg Balance of Power) The Middle East is again bracing for a shifting of the plates following Israel’s decision to finally act on its decades-long threat to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities and its brazen decapitation of top commanders.
…what has focused the attention of leaders in global and regional capitals is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to wage what has all the hallmarks of an open-ended campaign designed ultimately to provoke a collapse of Iran’s clerical regime from within.
It’s this scenario and all its potential repercussions that’s preoccupying leaders of Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbors, who tried for months to get Tehran to agree to a deal with the US.
Saudi commentators say the region is now in the midst of conflict like no other going back to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 or even the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s — incidentally, the last time Tehran witnessed attacks of this scale.
Israel-Iran battle escalates, civilians urged to evacuate target areas
Concerns of wider conflict rise, including at G7 summit
Iran refuses ceasefire talks amid Israeli attacks, official says
Trump vetoes Israeli plan to target Iran’s supreme leader
Oil prices jump as Israel targets Iran’s oil and gas sector
(Reuters) – Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on Sunday, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns of a broader regional conflict, with both militaries urging civilians on the opposing side to take precautions against further strikes.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders in Canada on Sunday would reach an agreement to help resolve the conflict and keep it from escalating.
Netanyahu says regime change in Iran could be result of Israel’s attacks
(Reuters) – Regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel’s military attacks on the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday, saying Israel would do whatever is necessary to remove the “existential threat” posed by Tehran.
Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” with a surprise attack on Friday morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will continue to escalate in coming days. Iran has vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation.

Israel, Iran Trade Blows for Third Day With No Sign of Letup
(Bloomberg) The tit-for-tat followed reports of explosions across Iran, including one at a natural gas plant linked to the giant South Pars field.
The enmity between the two countries once again turned into open conflict on Friday, when Israel preemptively struck Iran’s nuclear and military sites. Assaults since then have shown Israel maintains dominance in the air and highlight the limits of Tehran’s ability to mount a credible response.
For Iran, that’s an existential dilemma: it can’t afford to appear weak, but its options are narrowing and proxy groups it backs have limited options to support the Islamic Republic, with Israel having diminished their ability to attack.
… Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military would “strike at every site and every target of the Ayatollah regime,” while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said a day earlier that Israel won’t be able to “escape unscathed” after its attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Benjamin Netanyahu must be stopped
Moustafa Bayoumi
War is the prime minister’s doctrine. Israel’s strikes on Iran – falsely described as pre-emptive – are the latest example
(The Guardian) The Israeli prime minister’s lust for war as a solution to his myriad problems is nothing short of a threat to us all, one that extends far beyond Israel’s neighbors. Netanyahu knows no other way. War is his doctrine. War is his reflex. War is his answer. He believes the power of war will unite Israeli society and will stifle any American criticism of him, necessary since the machinery he needs to make his wars comes mostly from Washington. And, with his aggression against Iran, he seeks to drag the United States further into another endless military quagmire in the region and light the world on fire.
Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv as Netanyahu warns attack on Iran ‘just the beginning’
Israel says Iran has fired up to 100 missiles in retaliation for surprise assault as both sides threaten escalating hostilities
Trump scrambles to claim credit for Israel’s Iran attack he publicly opposed
Andrew Roth in Washington
Discordant US response as president says he was fully aware of plans for what Marco Rubio called a ‘unilateral action’
While Israel had clearly given the United States advanced warning of the strike, claims that it was fully coordinated in Israeli state media have been subject to speculation: was Trump actually on board or was he repositioning himself on Friday in order to present the strikes as part of a coherent strategy.
On Thursday, in remarks from the White House’s East Room, Trump said that strikes on Israel could “blow up” his diplomatic efforts to negotiate with the Iranian leadership and said he “didn’t want them going in”. He defended his decision to begin evacuating personnel because a strike “could well happen”.
We’re witnessing a historic test of two assumptions about Israel
Will Israel’s attack provide an opening for dissidents opposed to the Iranian regime?
By Natan Sharansky, human rights activist and former Soviet dissident, former Israeli government minister and deputy prime minister.
(WaPo) As we brace for Iran’s response and the possibility of a longer war to follow, we are also witnessing the historic test of two assumptions that have long guided Israeli and international policy.
The first is that Israel cannot eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat without active U.S. involvement.
… The second assumption being tested is that external pressure cannot precipitate the fall of the Islamic republic.

Sirens sound across Israel amid Iranian missile attacks
(Al Jazeera) Explosions in Tel Aviv as sirens sound across Israel amid Iranian missile attacks in response to Israeli strikes.
The Israeli military continues to launch waves of strikes against Iranian military and nuclear sites, as well as major cities.
US President Donald Trump says it’s not too late for Tehran to halt the bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Israel that it “must expect severe punishment” following the “crime” of attacking Iran and killing several top-level military commanders and six nuclear scientists.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the military operation will continue as long as necessary.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US is “not involved” in the strikes and warns Iran against attacking American bases in the region.
What is behind Israel’s decision to attack Iran?
Israel believes Iran is a threat to its security despite Iran’s insistence that it doesn’t want nuclear weapons.

Iran Reels From Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites and Top Officials
Israel said it had damaged a key nuclear facility, and Iran said several military commanders were killed. President Trump warned Tehran to agree to new limits on its nuclear program or risk “even more brutal” attacks.
(NYT) Iran was reeling on Friday from waves of Israeli strikes that decapitated its military chain of command and targeted a key nuclear facility, as President Trump urged Tehran to strike a deal curbing its nuclear program or risk “even more brutal” attacks.
Israeli military strikes hit Iran nuclear targets; Iran state media says Revolutionary Guards commander killed
Iranian state media has confirmed the killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami in an Israeli strike.
(The Guardian) … Israeli media is reporting that Friday’s strikes on Iran were enabled by “breakthrough intelligence” obtained by Israel in the past year, according to a senior IDF official. … Following Israel’s strike on Iran in October, “the Intelligence Directorate carried out an unprecedented concentration of efforts to build an opening blow against senior Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists,” the official adds.
In a statement, the Israeli military said Iran had been “working for decades to obtain a nuclear weapon. The world has attempted every possible diplomatic path to stop it, but the regime has refused to stop.”
a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/13/israel-iran-strikes-defence-minister-tehran-middle-east-live”>Iran says Israel’s strikes on its nuclear facilities are a ‘declaration of war’ as Trump warns of ‘even more brutal attacks’ to come – live
Trump warns of ‘massive conflict’ soon if Iran nuclear talks break down
Fears of possible Israeli strike against Iran and retaliation after IAEA issues strongest rebuke of Iran in 20 years
Donald Trump has warned that a “massive conflict” could break out in the Middle East soon if talks over an Iranian nuclear deal break down, amid concerns over a possible Israeli strike against Tehran.